Spring hinge for ice-box doors



May 20, 1930. J. VOLQUARD'SEN 7 SPRING HINGE FOR ICE DOORS 7 Filed April10,1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LMJ. \(OLQUARDSEN Patented May 20, 1930' PAT N men LELAND J. VOQUABDSEN, OF

SAN ERANCISQO, CALIFORNIA j srmne HING Fon. ICE-BOX noons Applicationfiled. April 10,

This invention resides 'inthe provision of an improved hingefor ice boxand refrigerator doors, the hinge'being constructed to serve as a springclosing means for the door 5 and as a means for locking the doorinan airtight closed position, thereby -making the hinge serve a triple purposeand doing away with the necessity of using three separate and distinctdevices, to wit: a hinge, a spring closing device, and a latch.

One of the objects of theinvention is to provide a compact, strong,durable and-efii ,cient hinge of the character described which, when thedoorto which'it is attached is moved from open to nearly closedposition, will forcibly swing the door from the nearly closed positioninto fully closed position, and hold the door in such closed positionunder sufiiciently heavyspring pressure to insure'the 2 maintaining ofan air tight seal without the use'of separate pressure latch. I

another object of the invention is to provide a spring hinge of thecharacterdescribed which is provided with a novel means for con-'trolling the action of the spring in the operation of the door withwhich the hinge is associated. The main objection to ice box andrefrigerator doors such as now generally employed is the. some manuallyoperated latch must be manipulatedto fasten the door in closed positionandmake a tight seal ofthe refrigerator or ice box. It frequentlyhappens that these manually operated latches are either improperlymanipulated or fail and prevent a' proper sealing or a proper holding ofthe door in closed position. These failures bring about waste of ice andof food, and are serious objections particularly in large cafes andrestaurants whereextensiveand proper refrigeration is necessary.Furthermore in large ice boxes andrefrige rators the doors, in order toprovide properthermalinsulation, are necessarily heavy and a great. dealof effort is required'to open and close such doors. v I

The present invention provides in a single hinge unit, for theautomaticmovement of the door into closed position following apredetermined closing movement of'the door,

1928. serial No. 268,826. 7

for forcibly closing the door and forming a tight seal by spring action,and for holding the door thus closed under the strong spring tension andpreventing accidental dislodgea mentof the door from itsair tight'closedposition; Thus, it maybe said thatthe-de vice of my invention providesfor an auto-" matic closing andfasteningof-the door thereby overcomingthe objections attending the use of doors having manually operated fastning devices. Among the advantages of the spring hinge of this'inventionis the provision for counterbalancing the door whereby it may be easilyoperated and will be main; tained in open. position and may be used as ashelf or tray in the operation of putting food and other articles intoor removing food'for other articles from the ice box or refrigerator.

Another purpose of the invention is to pro vide a hinge of the characterdescribed which may be used without change in the construction thereofin connection with doors which swing either upward into open position ordownward into openposition, a change" oflocation only being necessarywith regard to the installation of the hinge to make itopcrate on adownwardly opening door instead of an upwardly opening door andvice'versa;

With the above mentioned and. other obects in View, the inventionconsists in the novel. construction and combination of parts hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the ac companying ,drawinssand set forth intheclaims hereto appended. it being understood that various changes intheform. proportion. size and minor details of construction within thescope of the claims may be'resorted to without departing from the spiritor sacri ficing any of the advantages of the invention. Referring to thedrawings: I Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the hinge ofmyinvention as it would appear when appliedto a door of-anice box orrefrigerator, the'parts being in position with the door closed, part ofthe door beingshown.

Fig. 2 represents a vertical sectional view taken on the-plane ofline 22of Fig. 1;:

Fig; 3 represents. a vertical sectional view taken on the sameplanerasFig. 2 but showing the hinge as it would appear when the doorvation of an ice box showing the hinges and v of the hinge arranged asshown in Fig. fibut' is open, part of the door being shown.

Fig. 4 represents a cross sectional viewtaken on the plane of line 1+4of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 represents a fragmentary front eledoor with the latter in closedposition. Fig;-6 representsa vertical sectionalview of the hinge as itwould appear when used with a door adapted to swing down into closedposition instead of up." r Fig. 7 represents a verticalsectionallviewwith the parts in position assumedwhen the door is open.

Fig. 8 representsa horizontal sectional 7 .view taken on the planeofline 88 of Fig. 7. Fig.'9"is a fragmentary front elevation of arefrigerator showing the hinges arranged" to operate "when the doo'r-isswung upward into'closed position instead of d'ownwa'rd'as shown-injFig.5.

The embodiment of-the invention which is shown'in the accompanyingdrawings .com-

rise hinge casing generally designated 1 and which isadap'ted to besecured by screws reciprocall-y'mounted in the casingl. The

' rack bar 7. has an expansion spring 8 mounted thereon with the lowerend of the spring resting upon a shoulder 9 and the upper end ofthe-spring bearing against the under side of a guide block 10 removablyheld in the casingby screws 11. The upper" portion of therackbar-slidesthrough an opening12 provided in said block. By thisarrangement Withthe door hung as shown in Fig. 5', with two hinges ofinvention, one ateachend, when the door is swung downward from closedinto open position, thepi-nionsfi engaging the teeth'6 of the rack bars7 cause said rack bars to moye upward and compress the springs 8. Thesesprings operate as will be latermore fully described, to effecttheclosing of the door and'a holding of the door in closed position so asto 'form an air tight seal. 'The door is counterbalanced by the springs8 and the closing force of the springs does'not become. effective untilthe door has been moved into a position near the vertical.

Thus thedoor will remain at any point between. a predetermined nearlyclosed posi tion and a-fullyfopen position andbeing counterbalanced canbe operated easily. p

I provide a means which will assist in counterbalancing' the door andalso bring about a-forceful quick closing movement and flanges.

a securing of the door in closed position against unintentional openingmovement.

Thismeans is adjusted so that it may be regulated to suit theconditions'at hand and to vary the closing and locking operations- Thismeans is in the nature of a spring 'urged detent, which may be ar-f as idesired.

ranged to setup sufficient friction toas'sist V in counterbalancing theforce of the door. This spring urged detent means inbeing urged intodetenting position brings about a quick, forceful closing of the doorand then serves as a forceful andstrong yielding latch which holds thedooragainst being moved out of properly closed position unintentionally.but will readily yield when the door is grasped and pulled open; Indetail this means in the present embodiment comprises a pivoted membergenerally designated 13:

carrying a detent member 14 inthe form of a roller, which roller ridesupon one side of the rack bar7. A spr1ng15 urges this memher and rollerinto engagement withthe rackbar. A depression or notch'16 is providedinthe rack bar for reception of the'roller 14. The member-'13 comprises aninverted L- shaped piece 17 pivoted between its ends as atlS withinthecasing 1." Attached to one side of the verticalleg of the piece 17 is anelongated plate 19 secured in placeby means of a screw 20 which passesthrough an elongated slot 21 in the plate and into the piece 17. On theupper'end of the plate 19 is a lateral projection 22 which is engagedbythe lower end of an adjusting screw '23 carried by the piece 17. Theplate 19 is provided with flanges 24 along its opposite edges and theroller 14 is journaled between these extend on opposite sides of therack. bar through enlarged openings 26 in the'lower end of'the plate 19and are provided with screw threaded outer terminals uponfwhich nuts 28are mounted. The springs 15 are mounted on the rods 25 between the nuts28 and the outer side of. the'plate 19 and force Rods 25 carried by thecasing 1 the plate towards therack bar so as to yieldingly hold theroller in engagement with said rack bar. The tensionof these springs Qmay be regulated by the nut 28. The plate 19 may be vertically adjustedby loosening thescrew '20 and manipulating the screw 23, r

the enlarged openings 21 and 26 permitting movement ofthe platerelativeto the screw 20 and rods 25. 7 By these adjustments the. timingvof the closingandfastening operations may be varied as desired. Tolimitthe downward movement of the doorto the hori l zontal, a stopmember 30 is provided on the. p

casing l .in position to be engaged by the upper end of the rack bar'7.I 7

"With the hinge arranged as shown in Figs.

1 to Binclusive, a second depression or notch 31 provided in the member7 is sealed with suitable material such as Babbitt metal in- 'narily thecase.

dicatediat 32 so as to provide a smooth face. .This Babbitt'metalisremoved in theinstance of another use oflthe hinge aswill be latermorefully described. However, if desired the depressions 31 may be leftopen as is the depression 16 and in this event the door will besecurely' held in down or ope-n position.

' T In the operation .of-the hinge of my invention arranged as shown inFigs. 1 to 5 inclusive, assuming that the door is closed and the hingeparts are in the position shown'in Figs-1 and 2, when the door is pulledclownward, the pinion and rack bar 5 and 7 oper-.

ate to pushthe rack bar up and compress the spring 8. Thus the openingof the door is offected against the action of the springs of the 1 twohinges and the heavy doors will be coun terbalanced so that they may beeasily and effectively opened without slamming. But a slight pull isnecessary to start the door, it being necessary to disengage the roller'14: from the notch 16 in the starting operation. The roller 14.- beingspring urgedagainst t as member 7 sets up friction and thereby assistsin counterbalancing the door. When the door is to be closed it is swungupward and.

this movement is assisted by the springs 8 of the hinges. Icebox andrefrigerator doors are usually exceptionally heavy and the provision forcounterbalancingthe doors by the hinges of this invention makes for aneasier and better operation of the door than is ordi- VVhen the doorreaches a point near the vertical, on being closed, the force of thespring is greater than the weight of the door and the door isquicklymove d by said springs into closing position, the rollers 14 thenextending into the'notches- 16. The springs 15 pressing theserollers 'lagainst the curved surfaces of'the notches 16 provide a cam action whichaids the springs 8 in effecting the closing movement, thus giving aquick closing action, inasmuch as this cam action tends to move the rackbar 7 downwardly. With the rollers extending into the notches 16 asshown in Fig. 2, the door is effectively held'in closed position underspring pressure and will therefore be secured against unintentionalopening movement.

This closing'pressure may be varied to some extent by adjusting theplate 19 carrying the roller to cause the rollerto extend a greater or,

less extent into the notch as desired. Inthis waythe door isautomatically fastened in closedposition and'the fastening means alsoassists in the closing movement due" to the leverage force imparted bysaid locking ,means when the rollers le'thereof extend into the notches16. I a

*Referring 'to*Figs.6 to 9 inclusive, the hinges are arranged to providefor hanging the door from the upperside so that the door is opened bybeing swung upwardly and closed upon beingswungdownwardly. Thisarrangement is usually necessary where the compartment for which thedoor is used is disposed above normal shoulder height in ice boxes andrefrigerators. The hingesare placed at the upper edge of the door asshown in Fig. 9 and operate in substantially. the same manner aspreviously described. Fig. 6 shows the door in closed position. but thehingeparts are at this time in the position which they assume when thedoor is hung andis inthe position as shown in Fig. 3 withthe rollers 14engaged in'the lowermost notches 31. In hanging the door the hinges anddoor are set up so that the springs 8 are under maximum compression whenthe door is closer (see Fig. 6). To open the door, it is swung upwardand the pinions 5 move the rack bar 7 downward This movement of the rackbars is assisted by the compressed springs 8 and these springs thereforethrough the rackbars and pinions tend to lift the doors during theopening thereof. In this .way the 7 usually heavy doors may be easilylifted due to the assistance given by the springs 8'. It" 18 onlynecessary to exert a quick forcefulpull on the door to start the openingmovement, this pull being necessary to move the rollers is out of thenotches 31 which normally function to hold the door-in closed position,

When the door has been moved into nearly horizontal position, therollers again engage in theno'tches 16 and therebyv hold and fasten thedoor in open position and against accidental dislodgment from saidposition. To close the door it is given a quick: forceful pull todisengage the rollers ltfrom the notches 16 and the closing movement is'ef-= fected against the action of. the springs 8 which are compressedduring such movement.

In this way heavyd'oors may beeasilylet down into closed positionwithout slamming. The springs 8 assist inholdmg the door open andassistin closing it also. The rollers 14 riding on the rack bars 7 during theclosing movement and being under strong spring pressure assist incounterbalanoing tlie door, and whenthe door moves to a nearly verticalposition, the rollers will snap into the notches 31 and thereby quicklyand forciblymove the door into final closedposition'. The spring forceof the rollers acts as a leverage to push the rack bars 7 upward and thefastening means thereby assists in effectingthe inal 1. A hinge of thecharacter described I cally accelerate the closing of the door whenprising a housing, a bar reciprocally supported'upon the housing, meansassociated with'the housing and door and adapted for connection with thedoor, which means when the door with which it is connected ismoved intoopen and closed positions will reciprocate said bar, a spring associatedwith said housing and bar, which spring acts as a counterbalance'forthe'door, anda spring urged ,detent means operating to automatithedoor-is i nYnearly closed position and to .hold the door. in closed"position against unintentional opening movement.

- 1 2Q A hinge of the character described'comprlsmg a casing, meansassociated with the casing and upon which a door maybe hung, which meansmoves when the door is moved,

a-memb'er on the casing associated "with the door and'moved by'saidmeans, an expansion spring RSSOCIELtGd with said member, whichspring-expands on movement of-said member 1y, holds the movable 'memberin a position in one direction and is compressed on movement of saidmember in the otherdirection and a spring urged means which. when thedoor is nearly closed accelerates the closing thereof and when the dooris closed yieldingbetween, said member and said pin provid-' ingformovement vof the member on rotation T of the pin, an expansion springtending to .7

move said member in onedirection and which expands on one movement ofsaid member and contracts on the othermo'vement of said member, andmeans which when the door is near to-a predeterminedposition will engagesaid movable member so as to accelerate its movement toward saidposition and to yielding'ly hold said member in position to maintain thedoor in said predetermined position against unintentionalmovement outofsaid 5Q position. 7

4'. A hingecomprisinga casing, a hinge pin revolvably connected with thecasing and adapted to have a door fixed thereto, a bar slidable in the,casing and having a notch therein, a meansof connection between. the barand pin providing for movement of the bar on rotation of the pin, anexpansion spring associated with the casing and bar and arranged toexpand on movement of the barin one direction and to be compressed onmovement of the bar in the other direction; a detent'member engaged withsaid bar and "adapted 'to extend into; said notch on movement of saidbar into a predetermined posii n; andspri gm an yieldingly holding saiddetent in engagement with the ban said detent member and saidnotch-being adapted tocoact for accelerating the movementiof said V barwhen thebar is nearing-the said prede; H

v. V n

termined position.

5. A hinge comprislng a casing, 'ahinge pin revolvably connected withthe, casing and adapted to have a doorfixed thereto, a bar] A slidableinthe Icasingfand having a' notoh therein, a. means of connectionbetween-the bar andpin providing for movementof the bar on rotation ofthe pin, anexpansion spring associated with the casing and-bar andarranged to expand on movement ,of

the bar in onedirection and 'to be compressed on movement of the bar. inthe other directiom a memberpivotally-mounted in the casing,

a roller carried by said member and engag-.

with the bar, which'roller is adapted to extend into said notch onmovementofthe bar to bring the notch opposite the roller; and springmeans yieldingly holding said roller in engagement with said bar, so asto cause said roller to accelerate the movement of the bar when thenotch is moved toward and into partial engagement with'the roller.

6. A hinge comprisingacasing, a hinge" pin revolvably mounted upon thecasingand adapted to have a door attached thereto, a

rack bar slidably mounted npon the casing, a pinion carried by said pinand engaging the teeth of the rack bar, said rack bar having a notchtherein, a shoulder on said rack bar, a'helical expansionspring mountedupon the rack bar with one end engaging said shoulder, amember -mountedon the casing and withwhich the other end of the spring engages, amember pivoted-within the casing, a roller carrledby said member and'contacting with said rack bar, which roller is adapt ed to extend intothe notch of the rackbarw; and spring means yieldingly holding saidpivoted member in position to maintain the roller in yielding engagementwith said rack bar, said member being adjustable to vary the leverage ofthe roller action upon the bar, .7. A hinge comprising a casing, ahinge-pin revolvably mounted upon the casing-and f 7 adapted to have adoor attachedthereto, a rack bar slidably mounted upon the casing,

teeth of the rack bar, said rack bar having a notch therein, a shoulderon said rack bar, a

helical expansion spring'mounted upon the rack bar with'one end engagingsaid shoulder,

51.. 5 a pinion carried bysaid pin and engaging the, i

a member mounted onthe casing and with which the other end ofthe springengages,a[

member pivoted within the casing, a O1: er-

carried by said member and'contactingwith; I 12 5 said rack bar, whichroller is adapted' toyextend into the notch of the rack bar seas-to actat times as a movement acc'eleratingmechanism, spring meansyieldinglyholding said pivoted member in position tomaintainthe roller in yieldingengagement with saidrack bar and means for adjusting the rollersupportlng member to vary the position of the roller.

U 8. In a hinge ahinge casing, a horizontally disposed hinge pinrotatably connected with the casing and adapted to have a door hungthereon, bar slidably mounted within the casing, an expansion springassociated with the casing and bar, means of connection be tween the barand pin providing for movement or" the bar on rotation of the pin, the

- tally disposed hingepin rotatably connected with the casing andadapted to have adoor hung thereon, a bar slidably mounted within thecasing, an GXPELRSlOIl' spring associated with the casing and bar, meansof connection between the bar and pin providing for movement of the baron rotation of the pin, the spring compressing on movement of the bar inone direction and expanding on movement of the bar in the otherdirection and acting to counterbalance the Weight of the door at tacheclto the hinge pin, and a spring urged detent adapted to yieldingly engagethe bar when the bar is in door closing position, said bar and detenthaving co-acting faces which when engaged cause the bar to be urged in adirection which will maintain the door closed.

10. A hinge comprising a hinge casing, a rack bar slidably mounted uponthe casing, a horizontalhinge pin rotatable upon the easing and adaptedto have'a door connected therewith, a pinion fixed to the hinge pin andengaging the teeth of the rack bar, an expansion sprlng associated withthe casing and rack bar and arranged to compress on movement of the rackbar in one direction and to expand on movement of the rack bar in theother direction, said rack bar having a notch therein, a member pivotedvon the casing, a plate adjustably supported on said member, a detentroller carried by the plate and engaging said rack bar, which roller isadapted to extend into the notch on movement of the bar to apredetermined position, and to coact with said notch for acceleratingthe bar movement near to said position, means providing for adjustmentof said plate to vary the position of the roller, and spring meansyieldingly holding the roller in engagement with said rack bar.

11. A hinge comprising a hinge casing, a rack bar slidably mounted uponthe casing,

' a hinge pin rotatable upon the casing and adapted to have a doorconnected therewith, pinion fixed to the hinge pm. and engaging theteeth of the rack bar, an expansion spring associated with: the casingand rack bar and arranged to compress on. movement of the rack bar inone direction 'and'tol expandon movement of the rack bar in the otherdirection, said rack bar having a notch therein,

a member pivoted on the casing, a plate adj ustably supported onsaid'member, a detent rollercarried by the plate and engaging said rackbar, which roller isadapted to extend intothe notch on movem'ent of thebar to a predetermined position, means providing 'for adjustment of saidplate to vary the position ofthe roller, spring means yieldingly holdingthe roller in engagement with said rack ba'r, said spring meanscomprising rods fastened to the casing, said plate having openingstierein throughwhich the rods loosely ex-s tend, adjustable members onthe outer terminals of the rods and expansion springs mounted on-therods with their terminals engaged with said plate and said adjustablemembers. 3

12. The combination with a door and a mounting therefor, of hingesconnectlng said door with said mounting, each of said hinges comprisinga'slide bar, means of connection between the door and said slide memberpro viding for movement of the slide member In one direction on openingof the door and in the other direction on closing of the-door,

spring means associated with said slide memher and against the action ofwhich said slide member moved 1n one direction and means for yleldinglyholding said slide member against movement incident to closing of thedoor,-

which means releases the door incident to intentional movement of thedoor on being opened, and which accelerates the closing movement of thedoor in a nearly closed position thereof.

13. The combination with a door and a supthe door, spring meansassociated with said bar and compressing on one movement and expandingon the other movement of the door,

which spring means counterbalances the weight of the door, and meansoperating automatically when the door is moved into nearly closedposition for quickly and forcibly closing the door and maintaining thedoor in closed position under spring pressure, which means includes aspring urged detent yieldingly engaged with the bar and a portion on thebar with which said detent engages so as r to hold the bar againstunintentional move- B r p l i 1359, 174

V 'olud e hinge pins disposed in ahorizontal plane whereby the door is*inoviible up and cloning -each hinge'also including at spring 'ineansoperativelyoonnected With the mount- 7 ing and the door and whicheounterbalances the door and assists in maintaining the door closedunder spring pressure, which spring means is automatically brought intoplay upon manipulation ofthe door, and a spring i rgeddetent meansoperating to hold the spring meansfag ainst unintentional move- I Jnentout of a position maintaining the door oloseitand to accelerate theclosing movement I o f the door near to its closed position. p 1 LELANDJ VOLQUARDSEN.

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